Quick change multi-fuel burner feed assembly

ABSTRACT

A quick change multi-fuel burner feed assembly comprising a manifold and adapters which permit a rapid change of fuels. The manifold is connected permanently to the burner and to the fuel and utility supplies while the adapters engage with the manifold to permit rapid change of fuel guns.

United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,720,378 Davis, J 1 1March 13, 1973 QUICK CHANGE MULTl-FUEL [56] References Cited BURNER FEED ASSEMBLY UNITED STATES PATENTS {75] Inventor: Lest" Dover 943,330 12/1909 Yearke ..285/131 x [73] Assignee: Esso Research and Engineering 1,860,942 5/1932 Company 2,701,147 2/1955 [22] Filed: April 2, 1971 [21] Appl 130 670 Primary ExaminerCarr011 B. Dority, Jr.

AtlorneyManahan & Wohlers and F. Donald Paris [52] U.S. Cl. ..239/397, 239/442, 431/156, 57 ABSTRACT 285/12, 285/137 R 51 Int. Cl ..A62c 31/02 A qmck change mum-fuel burner feed assembly [58] Field 01 Search ..431 4, 154, 156, 163, 182, prising a manifmd and adapters which permit a rapid change of fuels. The manifold is connected permanently to the burner and to the fuel and utility supplies while the adapters engage with the manifold to permit rapid change of fuel guns.

lllil Y PATENTEUMARIBIQTS 3,720,378

INVEN OR ATTOR N EY QUICK CHANGE MULTI-FUEL BURNER FEED ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Industrial furnaces and particularly those in oil refineries may have occasion to tire both gas and oil fuels. As a result, it is necessary to provide burners which are capable of operating with either oil or gas depending on the situation which pertains at any particul lar time in the plant. It is common experience in oil refining that gas supply and quality change rapidly and frequently. To make effective use of waste gases it is necessary to continually switch back and forth from one type of fuel to another. Since gas and oil fuels have completely different characteristics and heat release per unit volume, it is generally required that each fuel have aburner designed especially for use with that particular fuel. In order to avoid having a number of different burners available, some to be used for gas and some for oil, it is generally desirable to have multipurpose units containing both oil and gas injectors (also called guns). Inasmuch as the operation of one injector (or gun) while another is idle could damage or even destroy the idle injector, it is common practice to remove the injector which is not in use, leaving behind only the injector which is in service at the time. Thus, the ability to switch readily from one fuel to another is .a very valuable characteristic of a multiple purpose burner. Previously, a number of methods and constructions have been used for switching fuels in multi-purpose burners as will be explained hereinafter. Alternatively, separate burners may be used, but this requires many burners, thus increasing the furnace cost, complicating the necessary piping and generally leads to inefficient operation of the furnace. To switch fuels within a multi-purpose burner, a common prior art expedient is to use flexible hoses to supply steam and oil to an oil injector and a separate hose to supply gas to a gas injector. The injectors are removed to protect them when out of service. However, use of hoses has serious disadvantages in that it requires considerable manual effort to make the switchof fuels, is less safe than solid piping and proves in practice to be very awkward to use where multiple burners are required. A second alternative commonly used is to make completely solid piping connections, thus requiring dismantling of piping when burners are switched from gas to oil and vice versa.

This is obviously an even longer and more complex procedure than in the case using flexible hoses, since it requires more manpower and time to make the switch in fuels. The difficulty in making a switch in fuels discourages the use of available gas which would otherwise be flared. Other possible methods of switching from one fuel to another include a dual-purpose fuel burner including separate passages for gas and oil, thus in effect building nearly separate burners in one unit as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,174,527. Still another approach is to retract or remove the oil burner when gas is to be burned while maintaining the separate fuel supply connections as in U.S. Pat. No. 2,863,498.

The desirable features of an improved fuel switching system would be (I) that it would be quick and easy to effect a changeover from one type of fuel to another; (2) that it would be an inherently safer operation than using hoses; and (3) that it saves money in the initial construction and operation. The present invention has been designed to overcome the foregoing prior art deficiencies and more, as well as to accomplish the desired objectives and advantages attendant thereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An assembly for providing either of two different fuels to a single multipurpose industrial burner basically includes three parts: (I) A manifold connected 0 directly to the burner and having permanent piping connections to steam, oil and gas supplies, wherein these connections are valved externally of the manifold; (2) A gas adapter designed to be connected quickly and securely to the manifold in order to direct gas flow from the manifold gas outlet port through the adapter to the gas burner which is mounted on the adapter; and (3) An oil adapter designed to be com nected quickly and securely to the manifold and which provides passages to route oil and steam through the adapter to the oil burner which is mounted on the adapter. The combination of these three elements comprises a novel and improved quick-change assembly which retains all the advantages of solid connections and saves time in changing over from one type of fuel to the other.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 A manifold constructed in accordance with the present invention adapted to be mounted on a furnace burner.

FIG. 2 The oil-gun adapter shown with an oil-gun mounted thereon and constructed so as to be placed and secured within the manifold of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 A side view of a typical swirl air burner with the manifold of FIG.- 1 attached thereto and the adapter of FIG. 2 secured in the manifold of FIG. 1, illustrating the typical installation of such manifold and adapter in an oil-firing burner.

FIG. 4 A gas adapter showing a portion of a gas gun attached thereto. The gas adapter is arranged to engage with the manifold of FIG. 1 when gas fuel is to be fired. The assembly of FIG. 3 is changed only by the use of the gas adapter and corresponding gas gun.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 the manifold shown generally as 11 is represented in a perspective view without showing its attachment to the burner or to the adapters with which it is to be used. The manifold 11 is arranged so that it may receive through permanent piping connections either gas or oil and steam and transfer these utilities through adapters inserted in the manifold to their respective oil and gas burner guns. Gas enters through a permanent connection at opening 10 and leaves opening 12 after passing through an internal passageway. When the gas adapter 45 is in position opening 12 meets opening 38 (see FIG. 4), the corresponding opening of the gas adapter. When oilis to be fired, both oil and steam connections are required. These are permanently connected steam to opening 19 and oil to opening 18. Opening 18 is clearly seen in the perspective view while opening 19 is hidden behind the manifold body 11. Internal passageways connect these openings with the outlets which correspond to the matching openings on the oil-gun adapter 23. The oil passes through outlet 22 and the steam through outlet 20. The cylindrical support for the manifold has a threaded end 16 which may be seen in FIG. 3 to be threaded into the bottom cover 46 of the burner. The cylindrical support 15 contains a passageway 14 through which the gas and oil guns will be inserted into the burner as required. In order to hold the oil and gas gun adapters in position in the manifold, a bracket 42 is provided which is connected to the manifold body 11 by shoulder bolts 43. Bracket 42 is movable in order to assist in the positioning of the oil and gas gun adapters. An adapter is placed in position so that the corresponding openings in the manifold and adapter are properly aligned. The bracket is then moved into position and the threaded tightening screw 44 turned in so that its end will engage with socket 31 on the oil gun adapter or socket 39 on the gas-gun adapter, thereby securing the adapter in place within the manifold.

FIG. 2 shows the oil-gun adapter 23 in which has been mounted a typical oil-firing gun 33 having a burner tip 35. The oil gun tube 33 is mounted within the dual oil and steam outlet chamber 28 of the adapter. The oil gun is designed to receive steam and oil separately from passageways 30 and 32 and to keep the two fluids separate until they join at burner tip 35. The oil adapter 23 is made so that oil inlet 26 is positioned to engage oil outlet 22 on the manifold 11 of FIG. 1. Oil travels through internal passages including passageway 32 into the dual outlet chamber 28. The steam enters the oil-gun adapter 23 at opening 24 which is designed to engage with steam outlet on the manifold 11 of FIG. 1. Steam passes through internal passageways including passageway into the dual oil and steam outlet chamber 28. Handle 34 is provided in order to assist in the positioning of the adapter in the manifold and the removal therefrom when the fuel is to be changed. Socket 31 is provided in order to properly seat and position the oil adapter 23 against the manifold l l and to provide a place for tightening screw 44 to engage with the oil adapter 23. Gaskets (not shown) are normally used to seal the oil and steam connections between the manifold 11 and the oil adapter 23.

FIG. 3 shows a cross section of a typical swirl-air burner such as is described in US Pat. No. 3,476,494. In such a burner air enters through tangential passageways 50 located in air-inlet cylinder 48. The air is introduced tangentially in order to impart a swirling action within the air inlet cylinder 48. Into the swirling air is injected the fuel, either oil or gas, and the combustion occurs at this point of high turbulence at the inlet of the combustion chamber, which is lined with refractory 52. The base of such a burner will be a plate 46 on which must be mounted the oil or gas burning guns. In order to quickly adapt the burner from one type of fuel to another, the quick change adapter of the present invention is provided. It is mounted as shown in FIG. 3 by the threads 16 on the manifold support 15 which are threaded in to a coupling in plate 46. This then positions the manifold 11 and permanent piping may be made to the manifolds utility connections such as 10, 18 and 19 shown in FIG. 1. In order to transfer the proper utilities to the proper burner gun, the adapters shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 are used. FIG. 3

demonstrates a typical case of firing oil in which the oil adapter 23 of FIG. 2 has been placed in position in the manifold 11 and secured by bracket 42 and tightening screw 44. The oil-firing gun 33 has been threaded into the adapters dual outlet chamber 28 in order that it may receive separately the oil and steam required to operate the oil burner gun. Once the gun 33 has been installed in the adapter 23, it may be positioned against the manifold l l and the bracket 42 moved into position and tightened. The burner is then ready for operation on oil. In a very short time, the bracket 42 can be loosened, the oil gun and adapter removed and the corresponding gas adapter and gun, such as shown in FIG. 4, may be positioned and gas may be introduced to the gas gun.

FIG. 4 shows the typical gas gun adapter 45 having an inlet opening 38 and an outlet 36 into which a gas gun, shown in part as 37, may be threaded in much the same fashion as the oil gun 33 of FIG. 2. In this case, of course, no steam is required for atomization so that the gas adapter 45 becomes simply a convenient passageway for gas to pass from the permanent piping into the gas gun 37. As with the oil adapter 23, the gas adapter 45 is provided with a handle 41 for convenient positioning. The gas adapter 45 contains an internal passageway which connects the inlet 38 and the outlet 36. Socket 39 is provided in order to assist in the positioning and the tightening of the bracket 42 which holds the gas adapter 45 in position within the manifold 11.

It will be appreciated that with this arrangement an adapter and its corresponding gun can be easily assembled and fuels can be changed in a very short time by simply removing one adapter with its corresponding gun and replacing it with its counterpart. The permanent piping which is not shown but is connected to the openings in the manifold 11 will be valved in order to provide for easy shut-off or admission of the fuels or steam to the adapters and thence to the burner guns themselves.

It will be recognized that the construction arrangements which have been shown in the drawings are simply preferred embodiments representing commercially used devices, but the configuration may vary considerably while retaining the essential features of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A manifold means adapted to receive oil and gas fuels and atomizing steam having:

a. a body member;

b. a gas inlet in said body member communicating by a first internal passageway to a gas outlet;

c. an oil inlet in said body member communicating by a second internal passageway to an oil outlet;

d. a steam inlet in said body member communicating by a third internal passageway to a steam outlet;

e. a support member attached to said body member and adapted to be mounted on a burner and having an entry port through which burner guns are inserted into firing position within said burner;

f. bracket means for operably securing adapters in place in spacial relation to said oil, steam, and gas outlets, whereby said adapters may receive oil and steam or gas and transfer them to their respective burner guns.

2. A quick change multi-fuel assembly comprising:

a. a manifold means adapted to receive oil and gas fuels and atomizing steam having: I. a body member;

. a support member adapted to be mounted on a burner and having an entry port through which burner guns are inserted into firing position in the burner;

. bracket means for operably securing adapters in operable correspondence to said oil, steam, and gas outlets, whereby said adapters may receive oil and steam or gas and transfer them to their respective burner guns;

b. adapter means characterized by having at least one inlet in operable correspondence to at least one manifold outlet and outlets equal in number to and connected with said adapter inlets by communicating passageways, said adapter outlets being adapted to receive a burner gun.

3. A quick change multi-fuel assembly according to claim 2 having said 'adap'ter means with a gas inlet in operable correspondence with said gas outlet of said manifold and a passageway communicating therefrom to an outlet adapted to mount a gas burner gun.

4. A quick change multi-fuel assembly according to claim 2 having said adapter means with oil and steam inlets in operable correspondence with said oil and steam outlets of said manifold and passageways communicating therefrom to an outlet adapted to mount a burner gun. 

1. A manifold means adapted to receive oil and gas fuels and atomizing steam having: a. a body member; b. a gas inlet in said body member communicating by a first internal passageway to a gas outlet; c. an oil inlet in said body member communicating by a second internal passageway to an oil outlet; d. a steam inlet in said body member communicating by a third internal passageway to a steam outlet; e. a support member attached to said body member and adapted to be mounted on a burner and having an entry port through which burner guns are inserted into firing position within said burner; f. bracket means for operably securing adapters in place in spacial relation to said oil, steam, and gas outlets, whereby said adapters may receive oil and steam or gas and transfer them to their respective burner guns.
 1. A manifold means adapted to receive oil and gas fuels and atomizing steam having: a. a body member; b. a gas inlet in said body member communicating by a first internal passageway to a gas outlet; c. an oil inlet in said body member communicating by a second internal passageway to an oil outlet; d. a steam inlet in said body member communicating by a third internal passageway to a steam outlet; e. a support member attached to said body member and adapted to be mounted on a burner and having an entry port through which burner guns are inserted into firing position within said burner; f. bracket means for operably securing adapters in place in spacial relation to said oil, steam, and gas outlets, whereby said adapters may receive oil and steam or gas and transfer them to their respective burner guns.
 2. A quick change multi-fuel assembly comprising: a. a manifold means adapted to receive oil and gas fuels and atomizing steam having: -1. a body member;
 2. a gas inlet in said body member communicating by a first internal passageway to a gas outlet;
 3. an oil inlet in said body member communicating by a second internal passageway to an oil outlet;
 3. A quick change multi-fuel assembly according to claim 2 having said adapter means with a gas inlet in operable correspondence with said gas outlet of said manifold and a passageway communicating therefrom to an outlet adapted to mount a gas burner gun.
 5. a support member adapted to be mounted on a burner and having an entry port through which burner guns are inserted into firing position in the burner;
 6. bracket means for operably securing adapters in operable correspondence to said oil, steam, and gas outlets, whereby said adapters may receive oil and steam or gas and transfer them to their respective burner guns; b. adapter means characterized by having at least one inlet in operable correspondence to at least one manifold outlet and outlets equal in number to and connected with said adapter inlets by communicating passageways, said adapter outlets being adapted to receive a burner gun. 